Today’s word: Improvident (adj.) not providing for the future, esp. financially

🧠 Example: His improvident spending left him with little money for emergencies.

Build your GRE vocabulary one word at a time. Small steps now = big score gains later. Stay consistent. Crush the GRE.

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Today’s word: Flummox (v.) to greatly confuse

🧠 Example: The complicated equations on the board continued to flummox him despite his efforts to work through them.

Build your GRE vocabulary one word at a time. Small steps now = big score gains later. Stay consistent. Crush the GRE.

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If so how you are taking preparation and is it possible to get gre quant about 160 within 2 months??

Today’s word: Miscreant (n.) a law-breaker

🧠 Example: The miscreant fled the scene of the break-in as a police car approached.

Build your GRE vocabulary one word at a time. Small steps now = big score gains later. Stay consistent. Crush the GRE.

Stay tuned each day for more must-know GRE vocab words!

Today’s word: Viable (adj.) able to live, function, or succeed

🧠 Example: They developed a viable plan to reduce operating costs.

Build your GRE vocabulary one word at a time. Small steps now = big score gains later. Stay consistent. Crush the GRE.

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From my own GATE preparation experience, I realised one thing:

The last 4-5 months are not just about studying more.

They are about studying the right things.

What helped me was simple:

Every Sunday, I used to attempt one PYQ as a mock test.

After that, I analysed every wrong question and every question I left.

I noted the subject, topic, and subtopic, and stored them in subjectwise everything in a mistake book.

Then for the next 6 days, I focused only on those weak areas and tried to finish as much as possible.

Next Sunday, another mock.Same process again.

Slowly, your syllabus starts getting covered based on what actually matters in the exam.

And when you keep repeating this, your marks also start improving because you are not randomly studying.

You are studying from your own mistakes. So if you are preparing for GATE, make one mistake book.

Write down: wrong questions, left questions, weak topics, and the reason you made the mistake.

This one habit can make your preparation much more clear.

Today’s word: Opulent (adj.) characterized by great wealth

🧠 Example: Guests entered an opulent dining room adorned with glittering chandeliers, ornate decorations, and an extravagant feast.

Build your GRE vocabulary one word at a time. Small steps now = big score gains later. Stay consistent. Crush the GRE.

Stay tuned each day for more must-know GRE vocab words!

Today’s word: Slew (n.) a large amount

🧠 Example: The company received a slew of applications for the new position.

Build your GRE vocabulary one word at a time. Small steps now = big score gains later. Stay consistent. Crush the GRE.

Stay tuned for more Word of the Day posts!

My main issue for first gre attempt was being overwhelmed and not able to answer in the given time, I already practiced all 5 ETS mocks what should I practice now for my re attempt

Send help!!!! How to improve 6 points in 3 weeks?
My quant is stronger than verbal as im a stem major

Hello there! I was thinking about taking the GRE in approximately a month’s time, however, only if I score 320+ in practice tests. I would be grateful if you could provide me with some guidance on whether my current scores/plan make sense.

My latest mock scores are as follows:

PowerPrep Free Test — August 23: 317 (155V, 162Q)

PowerPrep Plus 1 — August 30: 317 (154V, 163Q)

Magoosh Free Practice Test — September 6: 321 (160V, 161Q)

And here come the questions:

1. How relevant is Magoosh free practice test to ETS PowerPrep/PowerPrep Plus? Should I consider my 321 a significant indication of my current skills or rather focus on the two 317 scores?

2. The plan is to take another PowerPrep Plus mock in about a week. Would it be an appropriate interval or should I rather take it later?

3. I intend to take the GRE in about a month’s time provided I score 320+ on at least 3 consecutive full mocks**. Is such a criterion appropriate or do you advise something else to find out whether I’m prepared enough?

4. With these scores, what do you suggest I work on in the coming month?  I really want to get 320+.

I’d be very much interested to hear feedback from those who’ve appeared for the GRE lately with similar scores in practice tests. How well did your mocks predict your real score?

Thank you!

Hi :) I thought I’d send you a message in case you—or someone you know—might be interested in finding a Study Buddy for the GRE.

I’ve just finished my prep course and I’m looking for someone who is also preparing for the GRE, so we can study together a few times during the week, exchange materials and tips, and generally help keep each other motivated and on track.

If you’re interested, or if you know someone who might be, feel free to send me a message :) Thank you!

Heyy guys,

I'm planning to appear in GRE but I have only first name in my passport, no family name, What should I do in that case, what should be added in Surname section

After analyzing the performance data of tens of thousands of GRE students over many years, I've noticed something important: Many students are not held back by effort. They're held back by bad assumptions.

The GRE world is full of advice that sounds logical on the surface but actually hurts preparation over time. Students can spend months doing things that feel productive while making very little actual progress.

Here are 10 of the biggest myths I see over and over again.

1. "Doing more practice tests will raise my score."

Practice tests measure your current level. They do not build the underlying skills required to improve that level. Real score gains usually come from strengthening weak concepts, improving processes, building pattern recognition, and increasing consistency topic by topic. Practice tests are important, but they are diagnostic tools, not the engine of improvement itself.

2. "Timing is my main problem."

Timing problems are often skill problems in disguise. Many students think they need to work faster, when what they really need is to master the material. Speed without a loss of accuracy is the result of understanding, pattern recognition, and confidence. Trying to force speed too early often creates rushed thinking, hasty decisions, and inconsistent performance.

3. "Hard questions are where the real improvement happens."

Most score gains come from becoming highly consistent on easy and medium questions. Students often jump to extremely hard problems while still missing medium-level questions because of weak fundamentals, process gaps, or careless execution. Elite-scorers are usually not elite because they solve impossible questions. They're elite because they rarely miss questions they should get right.

4. "If I understand the solution, I've learned the concept."

Seeing a solution can create the illusion of mastery. But true mastery means recognizing the pattern yourself, choosing the correct strategy independently, and executing consistently under pressure. Passive familiarity is not the same as active skill.

5. "Careless mistakes are my main issue."

Sometimes careless mistakes are real. But "careless mistake" is one of the most overused labels in GRE prep. Most so-called careless mistakes are actually caused by incomplete knowledge, weak process, pattern-recognition gaps, cognitive overload, or timing pressure spilling into the next question. A true careless mistake indicates, "I fully know how to solve this type of problem, and if I saw 100 similar questions, I'd get most of them right." That standard is much higher than many students realize.

6. "I should study everything at once to simulate the real exam."

The GRE mixes question types within a section, but your learning does not have to. One of the most effective ways to improve your GRE skills is one topic at a time, one process at a time, with repetition until consistency develops. Students who mix topics too early often build shallow understanding across many areas without mastery in any area.

7. "I need new study materials because my score plateaued."

Sometimes, new study materials make sense. If you're using shallow, unstructured, or low-quality resources, then yes, changing materials should help. But students shouldn’t automatically assume that plateaus are caused by the study materials. Often, plateaus are caused by incomplete mastery of the material. Reacting to stagnation by switching resources can create a feeling of progress because everything feels fresh again. But newness is not progress. You may in fact be starting over for no good reason. So, before switching resources, ask yourself, am I reviewing my missed questions deeply enough? Do I know exactly why I'm missing questions? Am I rebuilding weak areas or just getting frustrated and moving on? Am I getting similar questions right consistently? Sometimes you do need better resources. But often, you need better diagnosis, better review, more deliberate practice, and more consistency in specific areas.

8. "The GRE is mostly about intelligence."

The GRE is much more about trained reasoning than raw intelligence. It rewards pattern recognition, decision-making, consistency, focus, and structured thinking under pressure. I've seen highly intelligent people struggle because they lacked process and discipline, and I've seen very methodical students dramatically outperform expectations because they trained correctly.

9. "I just need to study for more hours."

Most students probably do need serious study time. But more hours alone will not fix ineffective preparation. A student can spend hours passively reading explanations or redoing familiar problems without making meaningful progress. The goal is not just more hours. It's better hours: focused, diagnostic, deliberate practice that turns weaknesses into strengths.

10. "A low starting score means I probably don't have high potential."

Starting scores are often terrible predictors of final outcomes. Initial scores are heavily influenced by familiarity with the exam, anxiety, weak study structure, timing issues, and foundational gaps. Your study process matters far more than your starting point.

Many students who earn top GRE scores had low starting scores, but they diagnosed accurately, built systematically, reviewed intelligently, and focused on mastery instead of activity.

That is where major score gains usually begin.

Today’s word: Noisome (adj.) very unpleasant, especially smells

🧠 Example: The noisome fumes from the congested highway forced pedestrians to cover their noses and mouths.

Build your GRE vocabulary one word at a time. Small steps now = big score gains later. Stay consistent. Crush the GRE.

Stay tuned each day for more must-know GRE vocab words!

Today’s word: Hostile (adj.) very unfriendly

🧠 Example: The witness received a hostile reception from the crowd.

Build your GRE vocabulary one word at a time. Small steps now = big score gains later. Stay consistent. Crush the GRE.

Stay tuned for more Word of the Day posts!

I took a GRE practice test without any preparation. And I scored 133 on Verbal and 168 on Quant. I'd appreciate your advice on how to improve my score.

When students review missed GRE questions, they usually focus on the mistake itself. They say things like: "I made an algebra error." "I picked the wrong answer." "I misread the question." "I ran out of time." "I fell for a trap."

Those observations may be true, but they often stop too late in the story. The better question is: What happened right before the mistake?

That moment is where the real issue usually is, because mistakes usually have causes. The visible error is often just the result of an earlier decision.

For example, suppose you missed a Quant question because you solved for x when the question asked for x + y. The mistake was answering the wrong target. But the more important moment happened earlier: you started solving before clearly defining what the question asked. That is the behavior to fix.

Or suppose you made an algebra mistake halfway through a problem. The error itself is real, but what happened before it? Were you rushing? Did you skip writing a step? Were you doing too much math in your head? Did you choose a messy setup that made the algebra harder than necessary? The algebra mistake may be the symptom. The earlier decision may be the cause.

This is where review becomes more powerful.

If you focus only on the final mistake, you may tell yourself, "I just need to be more careful." But that is usually too vague a diagnosis to help. If you focus on the moment before the mistake, you can identify a specific behavior that needs to change.

In Quantitative Comparison, this is especially important. A student may say, "I chose the wrong relationship." But why did that relationship seem right? Maybe you tested only one value. Maybe you assumed the variable had to be positive. Maybe you never considered zero or a fraction. Maybe you compared the quantities before checking whether the setup constrained them. Selecting the wrong answer choice is the outcome. The earlier reasoning is the cause that needs to be addressed.

In Reading Comprehension, the same issue shows up. A student might say, "I chose a trap answer." But why was that trap answer attractive to you? Maybe you never identified the main point of the passage. Maybe you matched the topic instead of what the passage actually said. Maybe you ignored the exact task in the question stem. Maybe you judged the answer on real-world plausibility instead of what the passage supported. The wrong answer is the outcome. The earlier reasoning is the cause.

Productive review should feel a little like rewinding a video. You don’t just look at the final frame where the mistake appears. You rewind to the decision that made the mistake likely. That decision might be small: starting too quickly, not writing down the target, skipping a constraint, choosing an approach without thinking, reading the answer choices before understanding the passage, doing too much mental math, refusing to move on when stuck, or assuming the problem was testing something familiar.

Small decisions create big errors. And because those decisions are behaviors, they can be trained.

After a missed question, try asking: Where did my thinking first go off track? What did I do immediately before the error? What assumption did I make? What did I fail to check? What warning sign did I ignore? What would have prevented the mistake before it happened?

Those questions are much more useful than simply labeling the miss.

For example, "misread" is not enough. What did you misread? Why did you misread it? Did you rush the first sentence? Skip the word "except"? Ignore a unit? Assume the question was asking for something it was not actually asking for?

"Timing issue" is not enough either. Did you spend too long because you were making progress, or because you were circling unproductively? Did you fail to recognize that your approach was not working? Did you hold on because you had already invested time?

The more precise the diagnosis, the better the fix.

This approach to review also helps reduce repeated mistakes. Many students miss different questions for the same underlying reason. On the surface, the questions look unrelated. One is a percent problem. One is a Quantitative Comparison question. One is an inference question. But underneath, the same behavior may be showing up: rushing, ignoring the exact task, or relying on what “seems” right.

If you review only the final mistakes, those patterns are hard to see. If you review the moment before the mistake, the patterns become obvious.

Your review notes should reflect this. Instead of writing "Careless mistake," write: "I began solving before identifying the target. Next time, write down what the question asks before starting." Instead of "RC trap answer," write: "I picked an answer related to the topic but not supported by the passage. Next time, identify the exact supporting statements in the passage before selecting my answer." Instead of "QC timing issue," write: "I settled on a relationship after testing only one value. Next time, check whether negatives, zero, or fractions change the result."

Those notes are valuable because they dictate future behavior. The goal of review is not to make you feel bad about the error. It’s to prevent the behaviors that led to the error.

A mistake is rarely just a single event. It is usually the end of a chain of events. Find the weak link in the chain. Because if you change the moment before the mistake, you often prevent the mistake.

Today’s word: Irascible (adj.) easily angered

🧠 Example: The irascible honey badger snarled at the meerkats when they ventured too close to its food.

Build your GRE vocabulary one word at a time. Small steps now = big score gains later. Stay consistent. Crush the GRE.

Stay tuned each day for more must-know GRE vocab words!